


Twin High Maintenance Machines

by TheKnitterati



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alien Planet, Armitage Hux Has Issues, Desire, Enemies to Lovers, Giving friends a complete miss actually, Kylo Ren is a Mess, Love/Hate, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:00:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24031657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKnitterati/pseuds/TheKnitterati
Summary: Kylo Ren and Armitage Hux despise one another.Don’t they?
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 8
Kudos: 41





	Twin High Maintenance Machines

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Winklepicker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winklepicker/gifts).



> (Set after The Force Awakens and before The Last Jedi. Rating is based on full work)

General Armitage Hux stared at the charred remains of what had been a perfectly serviceable maintenance droid. His right eye began to twitch ever so slightly, a physical response to what had apparently become Kylo Ren’s favorite stress management technique: destroying random things aboard the Finalizer. 

“What set Lord Ren’s temper off this time?” Hux asked, using every trick he could to keep his features neutral. 

The junior officer in front of him cast his eyes downward at his toes and mumbled something.

“I didn't catch that, Montauk. Repeat?” 

Montauk glanced up, cleared his throat and repeated. “Lord Ren said it was in his way. That it was moving too slowly, sir.”

General Hux’s eye twitch returned with more vigor than before. He took a deep breath in through his nose, and exhaled through his mouth. Supposedly it was calming. The question was how many breaths were required before this so called calming would kick in. He suspected he would hyperventilate and black out before he would discover the answer.

“Thank you Montauk. Get this passage cleaned up, and have what's left of that droid disposed of immediately.” Hux spun on his heel and stalked away, with a singular goal in mind. Find Kylo Ren. 

******

Kylo Ren knelt on the floor. The palms of his broad hands lay on his thighs, his eyes softly closed, his breathing slow and rhythmic. His mind was clear as he focused solely on a delicate pulse of energy. Tracing another Force signature was challenging; most Force users learned to conceal signs of themselves very early on. This being must be untrained, their power new and raw.

As he concentrated, the pulse became stronger. He reached out with his mind and received a sense that it was… one…no, two systems over.

His breath grew deeper. A vision of a planet now…sharpening in his mind. A dull palette of greys, blues, blacks. Jagged rocks, crashing waves. Unfamiliar. He probed, trying to feel more, to orient himself. If he could maybe find a …

*THWAP*

“Ow!” Ren yelped, torn from his meditation by the well-aimed projectile that had just struck the back of his skull. Fingers soothing his head, he turned, finding one of his own lounge slippers beside him. 

Hux stood in the doorway, angrily tapping the other slipper against his palm. 

“If you insist on acting like a child and throwing daily tantrums on board this ship, you can forthwith expect that I will treat you in kind. I am thoroughly finished with these antics, Ren, smashing droids and destroying data consoles and the like. You will behave as befits a co-commander of this vessel or I assure you there will be consequences.” 

With that, Hux dropped the other slipper to the floor, turned, and left without another word. 

Ren stared after him, a strange mix of feelings pooling in his belly. The most familiar of which was the warm twist of arousal he felt at Hux’s ire. He wanted more of it. He wanted to provoke it. He wanted to experience these… consequences.

With a tiny smile, Ren shook his head. That was such a bad idea. General Hux took his role in the First Order extremely seriously. After all, he had just used override codes to enter the Knight’s quarters and interrupt his meditations to dress him down for smashing a droid. A useless, ordinary maintenance droid. There were hundreds more onboard.

Just the notion of having that ginger menace so annoyed, so palpably angry, to feel it coming off him in waves…Ren could feel his breathing change again, his heart thump a bit faster. Hux was gorgeous when he was mad. His pale skin got just a hint of flush, his soft pink lips would thin to a narrow line. Those ridiculous coppery eyebrows would pinch inward in a scowl. No vision in any star system could compare to Hux when he was in a proper snit.

Ren had wanted Hux from the first moment he set eyes on him. It was nearly a year ago now that he had disembarked his shuttle after boarding the Finalizer. He had been willing to follow Leader Snoke’s orders and pair with the First Order, in spite of his distaste for the militant organization, with their petty power struggles and limited vision. Ren figured Snoke had a reason to place him here, and it was Ren’s job to comply without question.

Then a lean figure in First Order blacks had smartly snapped to attention, and introduced himself as Ren’s co-commander, General Armitage Hux, and offered to escort him to his assigned quarters. Beneath his mask and cowl, Ren’s eyes had fixed onto the other man’s delicate mouth, and had not moved. He was grateful to be concealed under his many layers as he felt every inch of him was turning red with heat, as unexpected desire pierced him like knives.

That desire hadn't gone away, and the first time he saw Hux get angry; truly angry? Ren had to flee and escape to his quarters. He felt as if his lust was glowing brighter than a binary star. Surely everyone onboard the Finalizer had noticed. Since that first time, he quietly attuned himself to Hux's temper through the Force, and when he felt it begin to build, he would find reasons to get as close as he dared. Then he would watch, and savor. 

His actions since then had not been with deliberate intent to trigger Hux. Well, not entirely, at least. After all, the Knight had a highly combustible temper and one of his biggest flaws was how poorly he controlled it. The fact that his own shoddy behavior could aggravate Hux so easily was merely a side benefit.

Ren wondered if he could get Hux to truly lose control… could he make him furious enough to let go of his rigid propriety and actually get physical? The line between fighting and fucking was very thin, and he felt sure he could push the uptight redhead across it - as long as he could get him onto the line in the first place. Hux may already be close, as Ren had a suspicion that the fine General harbored a bit of an attraction to his tantrum tossing co-commander. The evidence lay in the glances that lasted too long, the breath that caught too loudly when Ren stood close, the surprisingly hands-on care that Hux insisted on providing himself any time Ren was injured. If his suspicions were right, this could become a very mutually beneficial situation. 

Thoroughly unable to concentrate on meditation now, Ren rose and headed to the refresher to tidy up. He had plans forming, plans he intended to bring to fruition. 

******

Three days passed uneventfully, with Ren awaiting the right moment to launch his strategic assault on Hux’s temper, and hopefully upon his self control. Finally on day four, opportunity knocked. 

He was in the recreational gymnasium, practicing his saber forms with the use of a bokken. Between missions from Supreme Leader he was not called upon to do much, and training helped him stay focused. Although he was unlikely to ever admit to it, he enjoyed taking his body through all sorts of various brutal training regimes. It allowed him a place to channel his anger… an outlet of sorts.

Ren heard the hiss of the gymnasium access door as it opened. He knew it could only be one person. The ‘troopers had their own training spaces, and the officers and other crew with permissions here had started checking the security feeds before entering. No one seemed keen to share their work out time with Lord Ren. It seemed his reputation for violent outbursts inspired fear and a desire for distance in most crew members, which is precisely why he had so carefully cultivated that reputation in the first place.

Ren adopted a casual stance, twirling his practice sword with one hand. He turned and smiled at his visitor, who had crossed the floor to him. To his delight, Hux was not swaddled in his greatcoat for once, and was clad only in his blacks.

“General. What a pleasant surprise to see you here. Have you come to spar?” 

Hux flared his nostrils. “Spar? With you? I suspect that would not end well for me.” 

Kylo smiled wider, and took one long step that brought him nearly chest to chest with his co-commander.

“You are a General of the First Order. Surely you were thoroughly trained in various combat forms at the Academy. We needn't use swords…I'm quite partial to the notion of hand to hand, in fact. I'm sure you are adept.” Ren let his smile grow slightly more feral.

Hux was staring now, his lips parted. He stood stock still as Ren circled him, not deigning to reply.

“I could be gentle. Take it…slowly? I would not wish to hurt you, General. Your skin is so fair…I bet you bruise beautifully…”. Ren spoke from just over Hux’s shoulder, his warm breath ghosting near his right ear. Ren knew he was too close. His fingers twitched at the air, eager to touch, to grasp and pull and claim.

Hux leaned back, just the tiniest amount, yet it was enough to make contact. Ren’s nose bumped the shell of Hux’s ear. His hand flicked out and braced against the small of Hux’s back. A soft flush was creeping up from under the collar of the General’s uniform. Ren’s breath was caught in his lungs; he was so close he could smell the pomade in Hux’s hair, and it was dizzying. 

“Careful, Ren. Supreme Leader would not wish his apprentice to damage his field general. We have work to do.” Hux straightened. “In fact, I came to find you because Leader requests our presence in his audience chamber. At once.” 

With a sigh, Ren let his palm slide slowly off Hux’s back. 

“Of course. I will meet you there momentarily.” 

Almost reluctantly, Hux nodded and strode from the gym.

Ren replaced his bokken on the weapon rack, and headed to the changing area to switch out of his sweaty garments and back into his proper attire before heading to Supreme Leader Snoke’s audience chamber. Moments later he was striding through the Finalizer’s corridors, his personal schemes on the back burner. . 

******

Hux paced angrily around his quarters like a trapped animal. He had definitely not expected to be assigned a planetside mission with Kylo Ren. How could be sure Ren wouldn’t lose his temper and just… do something stupid and get Hux killed? 

He flung himself onto his couch, fury coming off him in waves. He hoped the Force user could feel it across the ship, even though he was not sure the Force worked that way. Snatching up one of the soft, ice-blue cushions, he held it to his face and screamed into it. It was a deeply childish reaction, but it did serve to vent the tension.

Closing his eyes, Hux released a sigh of annoyance that seemed to begin at his toes and build all the way up until it came bursting out of him at last. Then he stood, walked into his bedchamber, and began to quickly pack a duffel for the mission. They would be leaving very shortly, and he was well aware that Kylo Ren doesn’t like to wait. 

******

“The shuttle is fully loaded, General.” The soldier in front of him was saluting with near desperation as he step-danced nervously from foot to foot. 

“Thank you, Barbour. That will be all.” Hux waved a dismissal to the soldier, who vanished from sight so quickly it was as if he’d transubstantiated into a section of floor tile. Hux was debating whether or not to expend emotion on feeling impressed when a familiar heavy tread met his ear. 

Hux turned to greet his partner on this trust- exercise run wild. 

“Ren. Thank you for your timeliness. The sooner we depart, the sooner we can complete this little charade and return to more appropriate duties.” 

Kylo grunted as he stomped up the ramp into the shuttle. A moment later a pair of stormtroopers followed, carrying a few duffels of gear. Hux watched as the ‘troopers stowed the duffels, then departed back down the ramp, which began to raise to closed almost immediately. 

Eyes widening in surprise, Hux realized he and Ren would literally be alone on this mission. Not even a small complement of soldiers were onboard. 

“Ahh...Lord Ren, should we not wait for our escorts? Surely Supreme Leader expected us to bring along some men to help ensure our success.” 

Kylo Ren was already in the pilots seat of the shuttle, and the engines were firing up.

“General, you can take a seat back there, or if you wish to converse, then here beside me. Either way, I suggest you choose and strap in, as we are departing now.” 

Hux bit back the curses forming on his lips, and hastily sat in the copilots chair, tugging the harness strap around himself. This mission was not off to an auspicious beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> Title borrowed from The Mountain Goats 
> 
> *****************
> 
> Long ago, in the comments of a fic far far away, a gauntlet was thrown. The esteemed Winklepicker gobbed out a random list of words, and I said I would get them into a fic. 
> 
> Wisely, I did not say when. Cause it was a LONG time ago. I will add the list to end of the final chapter, feel free to judge whether or not I had to do major contortions to fit them in.


End file.
